Maoists desperate for repeat of Dantewada massacre: Police

Raipur, March 18 (IANS) The Maoists are desperate to carry out attacks on policemen, similar to the one carried out in Dantewada on April 6 last year in which 76 troopers were killed, police said.

'The People's Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), is desperate to carry out attacks on cops similar to the one they had carried out in April last year,' a police officer told IANS, referring to an intelligence report.

'The troopers of state police and central forces deployed in the war zone of the state's Bastar region, mainly of Dantewada and Bijapur, have been asked to strictly follow the war manual and move in land-mined areas controlled by Maoists only in V-shape formation and completely avoid using vehicles,' the officer added.

About 40,000 officers of central and state government have presently been deployed in Bastar region that comprises Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker districts.

On March 14, 2011, over 300 heavily armed Maoists tried to repeat the April 6, 2010- type attack in Dantewada and managed to trap about 150 policemen in a jungle stretch largely controlled by them.

But the heroic display by Koya Commandoes, a unit of state police made up of tribal youth, upset their plan and in a fierce gun-battle, police lost three men while several rebels were believed dead.

Police say that over 2,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, have been killed in the state, mainly in the Bastar region, in Maoist violence since the state came into existence in November 2000.